Did our first lawn today!

[cpenn481]

It's been a fast and furious few days. I got back from a business trip saturday afternoon and found my son had our old trailer stripped to the frame ready for rebuild, motor and deck was out of the mower and I had already decided our blower and trimmer wasn't gonna be reliable enough to suit me so something had to be done about that before we could begin taking on work. On the way home I had stopped at a lowes store and found they had a toro edger that had been returned (original owner had used it once then let it sit with gas in it). They had replaced the carb and marked it down to 100 bucks so I bought it thinking if he could get through a year with it that would be fine. We spent saturday evening discussing what he wanted to do to the trailer and what we needed. Sunday a trip to town netted a four stroke blower and trimmer with hedge trimming and saw attachments. You cant forget to mix the gas and oil if nothing takes mixed gas. Sunday night got a call from a lady that said here old lawn guy quit could we please come out and take care of her. My first thought was dang that was quick, we aren't ready. She explained that her house sat on an acre that had alot of shrubs that would require trimming but they were ok for now she really just needed the grass cut and grass trimming done and she paid her previous guy 55 bucks bi-weekly. If we would come do it for that for the first cut and did a good job we could discuss the rate further and she knew of several others in the area that might be interested. Against my better judgement I told her we would be there tuesday after noon. Monday am I went to the local shop and bought everything to rebuild the mower deck and engine then stoped at the industrial supply joint and got the steel needed for the trailer work. My son spent all day monday on the trailer, new floor, railings, tailgate/ramp and even new lights and wiring. I rebuilt the motor and deck and tested all the equipment.. I still can't believe we got it all done. Loaded every thing up tuesday morning and headed to town armed with flyers and made a few stops with a few business friends of mine to explain our new venture, did a little networking passed out some cards and flyers then arrived about 2 at the ladies house. Our first impression was we sure were glad we didn't have to trim all those shrubs today and there was no way we would be able to hold to the $55 price in the future. Oh well lets get it done. There was a brick wall about 3 foot tall that surrounded the yard then about 4 foot of grass to the sidewalk on 2 sides. Yep corner lot. I cut between the wall and streets first while my son started cutting in the back with a toro recycler. When he finished he started trimming. The place had about a months growth so we were glad we were mulching. Very little raking. The husband shows upabout half way through and proclaims it has never looked this good. I told him hold judgment till we were done we still had time to screw it up. Several folks drove by staring while we worked which I thought was odd. The wife shows up while we were loading up followed closely by her mother. Wife is very pleased and pays on the spot then asked could we look at some other work and give her a bid on that. Mom explains that she has 6 investment properties and would love for us to work her up a price on them. Wife says she will be reccomending us to several folks and agreed the 55 was too low for what we done and is ok with a rate increase. Got a call on way home to look at a nieghbors yard so we did since we were still in the area. I have to leave out on another trip tomorrow so my son will be going around and looking at moms stuff and working up the qoutes. If this keeps up we might have to step up to the ztr sooner than I expected. I had alot of fun with all this. Makes me wish I could spend all my time helping him. But allas my other business wont run itself.

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

That all sounds very exciting! You should consider getting some signs for your truck and trailer and one of those stick on business card distributors! All those people driving by were checking out the work you were doing and any of them could become new customers. Give them the information to know how to contact you! Keep us posted on all your growth and show us some pictures of the yards you do and the trailer repairs!

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[CHEESE2009]

Sounds like you have had a promising start!

May beer be plentiful on your weekends.

[cpenn481]

Originally Posted by Steve

That all sounds very exciting! You should consider getting some signs for your truck and trailer and one of those stick on business card distributors!

All those people driving by were checking out the work you were doing and any of them could become new customers. Give them the information to know how to contact you!

Keep us posted on all your growth and show us some pictures of the yards you do and the trailer repairs!

Thanks Steve, the signs have been ordered should have them in a few days. I tried to post some pictures of the yard but when I clicked on the choose file button nothing would happen. Not sure if it is a site problem or something on my end. I did find out later she had told some of her friends and nieghbors we would be there and yes they were checking out our work. She proclaimed the yard had never looked this good but looking at the pics I took I can already see things we could do better.

Thanks cheesee, love your videos. They just kill me.

[Steve]

To attach photos, click the grey 'manage attachments' button below where you type in your response.

Then a smaller window will appear with 'browse' buttons to attach files.

When you are done attaching them. Scroll that smaller window over to the right a bit and down. Look for the button that says 'upload.'

Once the files are uploaded, they should appear.

Try it out and see if it works.

[LawnCareMan280]

Congrats on your first yard! Hope you can expand your buisness and be a big company!




Travis

[cpenn481]

Originally Posted by LawnCareMan280

Congrats on your first yard! Hope you can expand your buisness and be a big company!




Travis

Thanks, this is probably a dumb time of year to try to start this but reaction has been good so far so I see good potiential, I can hardly wait till spring.

[Steve]

Just keep looking for services to offer and you will find more that your customers need.

[abetterveiw]

thats a crazy story but fun to read non the less!!!! Congrats on your new venture and good luck to you! I myself am getting back in the biz. I just purchased a used Grasshopper 616 (check out my post : After 5 Years im back!) there is a pic there. If you have any questions let me know!